Catherine Powell is a visionary leader with a proven track record across tech, media, entertainment, hospitality, and retail sectors. She has run complex operations at scale, driven significant growth and transformation initiatives, and worked closely with creatives to design immersive experiences in the digital and physical worlds. She is skilled at building engaged communities, and has been at the forefront of shaping and shepherding some of the world’s most iconic brands.Catherine spent 4.5 years at Airbnb where she oversaw their community of more than 5 million Homes & Experience hosts as Global Head of Hosting. She led local and regional business teams and delivered double digit revenue growth in key markets such as Germany, Korea and Mexico. She was developed quality standards, education programs, and digital products and policies for the Airbnb host community, and grew the number of Airbnb hosts from over 4 to over 5 million. Originally hired in January 2020 to run Airbnb Experiences, Catherine led the integration of the Homes and Experiences businesses and played a key role in Airbnb's IPO after successfully navigating the Host community through the challenges of the pandemic.Prior to joining Airbnb, Catherine spent 15 years at The Walt Disney Company where she held various senior executive roles in different lines of business, culminating in running Walt Disney World Resort, Disneyland Resort, and Disneyland Paris (DLP) – overseeing more than 120,000 Cast Members, over 40 hotels, over 1000 dining and retail locations and a combined P&L well in excess of $10B. She delivered double-digit growth, launched transformation efforts (including around the cost base), and championed diversity and inclusion initiatives. Catherine also led the successful delisting of DLP from the French Stock Exchange in 2017 and steered the planning and approval of multi-billion-dollar capital investments to expand its 2nd gate.Before Disney, Catherine was at the BBC for 7 years, managing the distribution of BBC programming and formats. She got her start producing news and documentary programming.Catherine is an active contributor to various boards, including PopHouse Entertainment Group, and the fungi biotech company Inner State. She also holds positions in nonprofits Airbnb.org and mentoring platform Ceresa. Additionally, she served as a trustee of the Sydney Opera House from 2014 to 2016. Catherine graduated from Oxford University.